The stainless coupes (Remanit-Coupes)
Please apologize, the following text is google-translated !
A E9 coupe with stainless steel body!
The dream of all who have been worked on a rust bucket!
In 1969, three E9 test units with stainless steel body were commissioned by BMW.
The bodies were (know that was probably a reason, insider known what I mean) built by Karmann in Rheine, in close cooperation with the German steel works (DEW), today Thyssen.
As a standardized material, stainless steel (with 18% chromium and about 9% nickel), named Remanit was used.
This material is renowned for the use in the automotive industry for molding, panels or bumpers.
The technique of three test units corresponded to that of the BMW 2800 CS. A relationship of the project of stainless steel body with the later-built BMW 3.0 CSL (hoods and doors, aluminum) did not exist.
Also absurd, who would ever think to build a lightweight coupe from heavy stainless steel!
Made of stainless steel were:
* Body
* Soil Group
* Wheel arches
* Spring supports
* Shock
* Cable clamps
* Interior door panels and hinges
* Window winder
* The entire exhaust system
Together with the stainless trim parts, such as moldings, panels, bumpers, horns, brackets and screws used for this purpose the 120 items were of a weight of 440 KG.
BMW wanted to demonstrate to the house with this project that you use stainless steel sheet (Remanit) can be applied using conventional tools and proven in conjunction with normal steel parts.
The three bodies were tested after final assembly in Munich on the bench.
The static and dynamic torsional tests, and a static bending test were the result of extremely positive. The compounds with the partially used normal body panel held the tests was.
The problem of surface cut was achieved. Appears finely brushed the surface in semi-gloss, thereby disturbing light reflections were avoided. The surface should not be susceptible to dirt than paint, which was shown in the five years of testing applications that ran without any complaints of the body.
The whereabouts of the three test vehicles with stainless steel body can only take very little time to find out.
A vehicle was damaged shortly after its completion in an accident so severe that further tests so could not be performed.
The plan to let this car during Art-Cars make a work of art could no longer be achieved by accident.
The accident vehicle ended in a blast furnace.
The second vehicle was delivered to about 125,000 kilometers of testing the German Museum, where it is currently being restored by BMW.
The third car was sold and the further fate is unknown.
The Company Thyssen had one of these vehicles on a mass, under the state's motto, "Thyssen and the Auto".
